Scores of members of the Peoples Democratic Party in Ondo State have defected to the All Progressives Congress, pledging to work for President Bola Tinubu’s re-election in 2027.
The defectors, drawn from all 18 local government areas of the state, described the PDP as a “crisis-ridden” party with a weakened leadership structure, saying they could no longer remain in a system they claimed had lost direction.
Many of the decampees are members of the National Union of Road Transport Workers and operate under the umbrella of the Asiwaju Transport Movement.
Speaking on their behalf on Tuesday, the group’s coordinator, Mr Ojo Adewole, said President Tinubu’s economic reforms and ongoing federal projects in the state convinced them to join the ruling party.
Adewole praised the President for what he termed the “restoration of the country’s lost glory” through the Renewed Hope Agenda. He listed major road projects—such as the dualisation of the Benin–Ilesa Expressway, the Ore–Ondo–Akure corridor, the Akure–Ado Ekiti Expressway and the Lagos–Calabar Coastal Highway—as evidence of the administration’s commitment to development.
“We were encouraged to join the APC by our minister, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo.
We thank him for the opportunity given to us, and we will not disappoint him or the party,” he said.
He added that the continuation of infrastructural projects initiated under former President Muhammadu Buhari also reinforced their confidence in the APC government.
Adewole noted that Ondo PDP had nearly collapsed, recalling that the only PDP member of the House of Representatives from the state, Festus Akingbaso, and the three remaining PDP lawmakers in the state assembly had already defected to the APC, leaving the state “virtually a one-party system.”
Receiving the defectors at the APC Secretariat in Akure, the state chairman of the party, Ade Adetimehin, described the ruling party as a home for all and urged the new members to begin mobilising for a sweeping victory in the 2027 general elections.
“This is the party of victory. In the APC, we don’t discriminate—there are no old members or new members; we are all equal,” Adetimehin said.
He maintained that President Tinubu’s performance had continued to attract more supporters into the party.
“President Tinubu has done well for us in this state. His Renewed Hope Initiatives are favouring us.
Work has begun on new road projects in Ondo State, and our people are being given appointments. So, we must work hard to give him a landslide victory here,” he added.